Tej Turner

Travelblog#17: Boat from Lombok to Komodo Island – Indonesia

9^th-12^th October, 2014

After five days spent relaxing on the beach and snorkelling with turtles on Gili Trawangan it was time for us to move on, so we signed up for “Komodo Adventure”; a four day boat cruise across the Flores Sea which would take us past Sumbawa and stop at many islands along the way, including Komodo and Rinca, where we would be able to see the dragons.

We were now three: Roy and I had been joined by his sister, Kate, who would be accompanying us for the rest of our journey through Indonesia.

At around lunchtime we reached Labuan Lombok harbour and caught our first glimpse of the boat which would be our home for the next four days.

We also started to get acquainted with our other companions for the journey; two French girls, an American, seven Dutch, and five locals.

After the crew had safely stowed our backpacks in the cargo hold underneath the deck we swiftly set sail, leaving Lombok behind and heading east. Within a few minutes we were at sea and we could see the mountains of Sumbawa on the horizon.

Some of the passengers felt a bit seasick for the first few hours. The tide was particularly choppy that afternoon but I also think it was because they were just getting used to life aboard. By the time we reached Gili Bola, where the boat anchored just after sundown, most of us were feeling well enough to eat supper.

We slept upon thin mattresses on the deck and were each given a pillow and blanket. It wasn’t the most comfortable conditions I have ever lived in, but what can I say? There were twenty three of us on a relatively small boat. The sea breeze was quite pleasant, the sky was starry, and the moon, when it first appeared at the horizon, was red.

In the early hours the engine ignited, bringing a swift end to my brief slumber. The sea was particularly rough for the rest of the night; it swung the boat back and forth, side to side, and water kept sloshing up onto the deck.

We arrived at Moyo Island the next morning, feeling very tired. After a quick breakfast we were told we were going to have to swim to the shore. Some people grumbled over this, but jumping into the water was exactly the kind of wakeup call that I needed.

Our guide took us on a short walk through the jungle to reach a small waterfall, which we climbed.

And at the top there was a rather nice pool to swim in.

Our second stop that day was at Satonda Island, which had both fantastic snorkelling with beautiful coral, and an inner sulphurous lake which was just a short walk away from the beach.

That evening we witnessed our first active Indonesian volcano; Gunung Tambora, which had a bright red lava flow we could see all the way from our boat at sea.

I laid back on the bow-deck and watched the stars for a while, feeling very contented. The Milky Way was very visible that night, and the sea was much calmer. Sleep was less challenging.

By the third morning we had, technically, reached Komodo National Park; the boundaries of the protected area actually includes a whole archipelago and a marine area, as well as the three islands that the dragons happen to live on. Before we were taken to see the dragons we first made a quick stop at Laba Island, where we climbed a mountain for some stunning panoramic views.

And we were also taken for snorkelling around Pink Beach, which was teeming with fish and had beautiful coral.

Then, after lunch, we were finally taken to the Komodo Island’s interior.

It took four rangers, in all, to escort us, and all of them were carrying thick, pronged sticks. They were surprisingly light-hearted and chatty, despite their slightly precarious job, but behind this jovial demeanour they were actually very wary, and their keen eyes were always quick to spot any dragons lurking nearby.

Only five minutes into our walk we saw our first dragon. It was hiding beneath some of the undergrowth – probably hoping to surprise one of the numerous Javan deer which prance around the island.

The rangers rushed over to show it to us as soon as one of them spotted it, and – while carefully placing the prongs of their spears between the creatures tail to stop it from lashing out – let some of us get close enough to have photos like this taken with it.

We spotted about ten that day, in all. Although half of that number were ones which just happened to be hanging around outside the kitchens near the headquarters, lured there by the scent of the food. I am not quite sure how “wild” that particular sighting was.

That night I slept very well. I didn’t even notice the engine starting up when the boat began sailing again, so maybe I was just getting used to it. I woke the next morning and looked outside to see that we were surrounded by a mangrove forest.

We were at Rinca Island; Komodo Island’s twin, home to the same species of giant lizards. We were taken on another trek and, once again, escorted by several rangers. We saw more dragons that day than we did on Komodo.

We even came across a group of them busily gnawing away at the last remains of a very smelly buffalo carcass. It was a sight we were, apparently, quite lucky to see.

After our trek around Rinca, our four days at sea were pretty much over. The crew took us for one last spot of snorkelling at a nearby island – where we spotted some lion fish – and then they steered the boat towards Labuanbajo, where we would get off and the next chapter of mine, Roy and Kate’s travelling adventures would begin.

More photos can be found here. I also stole some photos for this blog from Roy, as he has a much better camera than I do. His photos can be found here.

Travelblog#16: East Bali (Padangbai, Bangli, Besakih & Tulamben) and The Gilis – Indonesia

1st-8th October, 2014

For our last few days in Bali we based ourselves in Padangbai. Roy’s sister was coming out to meet us so she could be our companion for the rest of our journey through Indonesia and, as a special surprise, she brought Alison (their mother) with her.

The four of us hired out a driver and went out on a sightseeing tour around eastern Bali. We went to see Pura Kehen and Pura Besakih in the morning, both of which were probably the finest examples of Balinese temples we have seen so far.

In the afternoon we went snorkelling around the wreck of the USAT Liberty; a cargo ship which was torpedoed by the Japanese in 1942 and sank just off the shore of Tulamben. It is now one of those humbling monuments to the tenacity of nature: a military vessel, now a beautiful coral garden teeming with fish.

Padangbai itself was a little bit disappointing though. It had been praised and heralded in the Lonely Planet as a “funky little beach town” with a “travellers scene with some cheap places to stay and some funky and fun cafes”, but we were not so impressed. Some places, when they become the focus of tourism, eventually reach a state of decay. This little seaside town’s cove has been clogged up with a few too many boats and the beachfront has become overpopulated by ever-greedy touts, who have between them managed to more than triple the prices of all services in the space of just a few years.

Thankfully though, Blue Lagoon Beach was just a short walk away and there was decent enough snorkelling there to keep us occupied for a day but, after we had done that, we were more than ready to move on.

The truth is, we only flew to Bali because it was a conveniently placed airport; we were much more interested in the islands of Nusa Tenggara, east of there. We liked Bali much more than we thought we would as it is a very culturally rich place, but still, we needed to move on because we only had two months and there was much we wanted to see.

We caught a boat out to “The Gilis”, as we thought it would be nice to spend some time at a nice beach, especially as Alison was only with us for a short amount of time. Technically, there are many gilis (small islands) in Indonesia, but only one place – somewhat unfairly, perhaps – has earned the title of being The Gilis, and that is a set of three islands just off the coast of Lombok.

We based ourselves on Gili Trawangan, the largest of The Gili’s and it was, if anything, more touristy than Padangbai, with all its bars and agencies. The beaches were genuinely very scenic though and you could always find somewhere a bit quieter if you were willing to walk. “Touristy” in Indonesia is still on a completely different scale to somewhere like Thailand, so the coral is still fairly intact and the snorkelling was awesome. We saw lots of turtles.

We made a day trip to one of the neighbouring Gilis – Gili Meno – which was a bit quieter and laid back. We would have probably grabbed our backpacks and migrated there if we had time but, as we were planning to move on in a couple of days, it didn’t seem worth it.

Once Alison had caught a boat back to the mainland so she could fly back home, Roy, Kate and I looked into moving on again. We decided to sign up for a four day boat cruise heading east. It will take us past Lombok and Sumbawa, and then on to Komodo island to see the dragons.

More photos from East Bali and The Gilis can be found on my Flickr account.

Travelblog #15: Ubud – Bali, Indonesia

28^th-30^th September, 2014

We arrived at Bali airport quite late at night and, as predicted, were caught within a swarm of Australian surfers on their way to the beach. It took Roy a while to explain to the taxi drivers that we had no wish to pay for our fare in Australian dollars…

We went straight to Ubud, which is claimed by some to be “The New Age Capital of the World”. That wasn’t the reason that we were heading there, though; it also just happens to be a great base for exploring some of Bali’s temples.

The first thing we noticed about Bali is how they like to beautify everything. Murals line the streets, and even the facades to the humblest of homes have an arched entrance with a pair of statues.

While looking for a place to stay we discovered that nearly every guest house has an inner courtyard which could almost be a temple in itself, and we were only looking at the cheap ones. Balinese simply don’t do the uber-cheap, squalid accommodation that we usually end up staying in, because to create a space like that is just not within their mentality. In the end we settled upon hiring our own chalet which had two beds, a private bathroom, a fan, free wifi and a balcony.

The next morning we finally saw Bali in the daylight, and while we were eating breakfast we witnessed the owner place offerings at all the statues and altars around the restaurant; a practice we would soon learn most Balinese do three times a day to thank the spirits and keep the demons at bay.

Most Balinese practice their own version of Hinduism which has been fused with local animist traditions. This makes it home to some of the most interesting temples in South East Asia.

Containing three temples and the usual resident gang of macaques, The Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary is the first point of call for most visitors to the Ubud area and is a great introduction to Balinese religion.

Many of the statues are pretty gruesome, but in an awesome way. Demons eating children and frogs playing with their “bits” are just a couple of examples of the strange iconography which is carved into the stones of Balinese religious sites. The setting of a jungle with a river rolling by was also something which made the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary a very enjoyable first morning in Bali.

We then went for a walk to explore some of the further reaches of Ubud, passing through some farms and smaller temples along the way. Later in the afternoon we found ourselves strolling through the streets of Penestanan district, where Bali’s population of airy expats spend their time sat in raw-foodist cafes, discussing which meditation class or yoga course is hip that week while nibbling on vegan cakes and sipping lemongrass tea. You can almost visibly see their inheritance leaking out from them.

In the evening we went to see some traditional Balinese dancing at to the Ubud Palace. It was a slightly expensive affair which we knew we were only going to be able to squeeze into our budget once, so, we decided to see one of the classics: the Legong dance.

Balinese dancing is very expressive. If you ever observe one and watch closely you will notice that every little nuance such as the bending of a single finger, the rolling of an eye, or the slightest change to a facial expression, are all very deliberate things which the dancers use to convey meaning. The music was all created live by a group of men clanging away at their percussive instruments with hammers and sometimes making drawn out vocal sounds.

The next day we went to see some of the religious sights which were a bit further afield. In the morning we visited Go Gajah and Yeh Pulu; both of which were fairly interesting but nothing spectacular. What was more enjoyable was the short walk along a ravine which ran between the two sites.

In the afternoon we ventured up to Tapaksiring to see more temples. Gunung Kawi, which is regarded as one of the island’s most important sites, had some pretty impressive shrines carved into niches of a large rock face.

It was also surrounded by some very picturesque rice terraces.

Later on we went to Tirka Empul; a holy spring which is very sacred place to the local people. Visitors are allowed to bathe in one of the temple’s pools (as long as they are willing to wear one of the communal sarongs which are handed out), and it was a rather refreshing way to finish off the afternoon.

We then went back to our lovely little chalet. Where we sat on the balcony and drank a beer while planning where we were going to move on to next.

More photos (taken with my brand new camera) can be found here.